Stay
by The Legendary Kanin
Summary: For the first and last time, Sasuke feels Sakura's sorrow. Beware: character death is involved. Romeo and Juliet-ish.


Authoress's note: Hey people out there!!! My fics should improve a bit already...My English 2 grades aren't THAT bad anymore...However, I still have very ugly mistakes, so please tell me where I got things wrong, what I was wrong at, and what I should do with it!!!! Come on, help the newbie!!!! ...

Ehem, Naruto is not mine, and I am never worthy to have it for myself.

O O is a kind of page break I developed for all my fics.

_Flashback _or_ exaggeration_

Narration

"Talking"

**"Singing"**

'Song lines'

"Stay"

A SasuSaku fanfic

By gaigai

_Inspired by the song 'Stay' by Elisa._

_Dedicated to my room mates in __Pisay__, who have been very considerate to me (even when I play this song for countless times already with my Portable DVD __Player. Also a token of thanks to the people who reviewed to me, namely _LiL'LoRy, tiuannemei, Haruka Kokoro, Musei Kage, yuki-chanx, SakuraUchiha14_ for my "Don't Die on Me" fic, wherein _tiuannemei and SakuraUchiha14 _also reviewed "Letter"._

_"Don't leave!"_

Sakura woke up with a jolt. Every night, she dreamt about the day he betrayed Konoha to go to Orochimaru. Every time she wakes up, she couldn't help but remember her own words.

_The words she told him when he left a year ago..._

_"I know about your clan, but revenge...t__hat won't make anyone happy. __No __one.__ Neither you...nor I..."_

_"Are you going to choose to be alone again? On that day, you taught me that solitude is painful! I understand that so well right now. I have a family, and I have friends, but if you're gone...to me...it'll be the same as being alone!"_

_"I...I love you so much! If you stay with me, you won't regret it! Every day will be fun! We'll definitely be happy! I'll do anything for you, so...Please! Stay here! I'll help you with your revenge! I'll do something! So please stay here...with me! If you can't stay, take me with you!"_

Their last meeting was like a play. She was the leading lady and he was the leading man. The moon was full and it seemed to allow them to see each other even in the darkness. The setting was romantic, characters were equipped with their props, and the plot was well-built...

She shook her head. 'It wasn't well-built...', she thought as tears fell from her eyes. It was unfair for her, and even for Sasuke. Her warm tears dropped so fast, she didn't realize that her pillow was already wet.

She looked at the village from her window. It was raining very hard, and the streets were entirely empty. Naruto had left with Jiraiya for six months already, Kakashi was nowhere to be found, and she spent most of her days with Tsunade. She felt empty and depressed like the streets.

What would be her outlet of her thoughts? She had no diary (Sasuke accidentally burned it with his fireball once, in a mission), she can't go out, she had no phone (even though Ino told her to buy one), and she definitely didn't want to kill herself.

She made a fist. 'I'm never good at anything, just like he said. I- I was never worthy of Sasuke's time to begin with. Why would I expect for him to acknowledge my love for him?'

She kept on sobbing and weeping that she didn't notice the out-of-place black cloak that was lying down on the floor under her bed. Her voice rang around her room, sound waves bouncing off in all directions. Had she noticed that black cloak, she should have been somewhat happier by now.

So, what's with the cloak?

O O

Sasuke's heart felt heavy. Had he really caused her so much pain? Won't she get over what he did? It had already been a year since he left the village, yet she was still deeply hurt. The intense feeling of sorrow never left her, even when so much time had passed.

He made a fist as if he was angry at himself for being such a fool to leave her behind and make her a sad person.

However, he couldn't stand staying in Konoha for more than a day, or else Orochimaru would probably send a search party to find for the 'Dream Container'. The only probable place where Sasuke would go to was his home village, and that would bring Konoha in danger.

_Would expose HER to danger_

And he didn't want that to happen to the person he had loved for a long time, even though he wouldn't show such a feeling.

He had always complained about her annoying presence, but still he wanted her beside him, to comfort him in times of great trouble

_Like now..._

He knew Orochimaru might take him anytime, so he didn't waste a second of his short life in the world.

Somehow, this _appointment_ was VERY out of schedule indeed.

He didn't want to go to Konoha, much more visit her...

...because every time he sees her face, in reality or in his dreams...she was always hurt...

_BY HIM._

And he felt guiltier of what he had done to her. He had painful dreams about her every night ever since he left her on the bench, when her closed eyes made her tears flow. He had been sad all the time, never forgetting how much pain he delivered to her.

_ALL THIS TIME..._

O O

"Sasuke..."

Sakura's voice rang in her room again. His heart became very heavy, and her pained voice made it tip off the scales. He wanted to show himself to her right on that moment, but he knew better. He didn't want to blow his cover; for fear that she will tell everyone that he was here. Her welfare was a big matter, and he didn't want to cause her any more pain.

"I know you'll never hear me, and that you are so far away from me right now, but I'll keep on hoping that the wind will deliver this message to you...this song..."

'Sakura, if only you knew I'm here...' Sasuke thought as she said her statement between sobs.

"Sasuke-kun..."

She sobbed again. His chest became tight, as if her words were daggers that pierced him directly.

"A song, a song that would be my last words to you..."

'Last words...why?'

"You did not dare say a single word..."

Her sob broke the line, and after a few sniffs, she sang again.

"I did not dare ask for something more...I've kept my ques-"

She then felt that she was not alone, but after a little while, she continued.

"I've kept my question secret deep inside, and I wish I could have let you know about a time when I would have said..."

She clutched the fabric on her chest, trying to take away the pain and sorrow she felt.

"Wait... please stay..."

Another sob broke through her mouth, cutting the line.

"Did you mean to push me away?"

He controlled his body from going to Sakura, for the nth time.

"Please wait, just stay... Did you want it to be this way?"

She cried a little harder than the last time, but this time, she felt like she wanted to throw everything she can see and touch. However, she didn't do so, knowing she would have to train early the next day.

"Would you want to know what I've been through all this time? Would you want to know I have missed you too?"

He wanted to tell her yes, and he swore he heard anger in her voice.

"You've been and you will be a part of me...

...that I can't find."

She stopped, and her tears were flowing without an end. Even though he wasn't able to see her, he felt as if she was in front of him and that he could see her tears. She wept, and she kept on sobbing and crying as if she was going to lose her tears after she had done so.

"Is there a way that could replace times you've never said..."

Her voice became softer, but still loud enough for him to know her words.

"'How've you been?'"

"'Do you need anything?'"

"'Want you to know I'm here?'"

"Want you to feel me near..'"

The romance was in her song, and he knew how much she wanted to see him and feel him with her.

She sobbed and wept and cried harder than she had ever done in her own life. His self-control finally slipped, and he went out from his hiding just to see her face, but he made sure he had a genjutsu on him that made him invisible from her.

Her face made him feel more of her sorrow. Her pink tresses were wet of her tears, her eyes were a puffy red, her face was sticky, and her cheeks were a light shade of pink.

He then knew, no, realized, that he had to do things fast. He knew he had to return to her, to make her feel better, to let her know his secrets, to tell her that he had loved her ever since they were genin.

He couldn't let Orochimaru use him. He wouldn't let Itachi kill him. He shouldn't make himself a monster.

He doesn't want to waste her love. He never wanted to leave her in the first place, but he had to.

He had to, so that history won't repeat itself.

_So that Itachi won't disturb them again._

Sakura eventually cried herself to sleep after crying for so long. He noticed when she fell silent all of a sudden, and he knew it was his chance.

O O

"Sakura..."

He sat beside her body and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He looked at her angelic face and stroked her cheek. A small stream of water flowed from her eyes, and he swept it using his calloused thumb. She slightly shivered at the sudden contact of smooth and rough, but she wandered back to oblivion not long after.

"Uchiha Sakura, I will come back. Yes, I promise you. Wait for me too."

He looked at her, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Wait, please stay...Wait for me, and when I come back, please stay with me."

"I never wanted to push you away. I never wanted our story to be this way."

"When I return, I'll ask you, 'How've you been?'"

"When we'll be married, 'Do you need anything?'"

"When you'll be crying, 'Want you to know I'm here for you.'"

"When you'll be lying beside me at night, 'Want you to feel me near right now.'"

He talked to her, answering every question in her song. He knew she wouldn't hear him, and he also knew she might not love him anymore when he returned, but hope stayed.

He had the feeling she would wait for him, and when he'll return to her, she would still have loved him, even after a long time.

He stepped on the window sill, and before he took off, he looked at her for one last time.

He smiled. "Sakura, don't go looking for me..."

"...stay."

O O

The next day, everyone saw a pink-haired kunoichi jump off the mountain.

The day after that, Sasuke returned to Konoha.

After another day, hope of restoring the Uchiha clan was gone as the villagers saw Sasuke's corpse beside Sakura's gravestone, his face with a sincere smile.

Naruto came back, and so did Kakashi, when he found out about his two teammates' tragedy. He set up a memorial stone for them.

"Kakashi-sensei, what do you think is the reason why they killed themselves? Teme-he wouldn't do something as reckless as that, considering that he hasn't fulfilled his two goals yet, and never will." Naruto stood in front of the memorial stone with Kakashi and Tsunade. Tears flowed from his eyes. He never wanted to be alone again, but now his teammates left him.

"Naruto, didn't you ever notice?"

"What, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked at the heavens. "Sasuke always had comfort on Sakura's arms, and laughter from you. Both of you had are orphans, and he experienced a lot of pain too, Naruto. Maybe even worse than the pain you felt."

Naruto knew Kakashi was right. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke had a family and witnessed how they were taken away from him. The pain was so great that sometimes, when the whole team was in great danger, a gravely battered and wounded Sasuke would fall on Sakura's arms and squeeze her hand so tight, as if he wanted her to know what he really felt inside.

The blond smiled sadly. "They were in love, and I had been to much of an idiot to see the truth. I wonder what could have happened the day she asked him to stay…"

OWARI

O O

Author's note:

sniff sniff HUHUHUHU!!! I have never been a sad ending type of writer. I felt really sad and sorrowful. I wrote this when I heard the song: Stay: by Elisa, and I continued it after I watched the story of Gandhi. Then, after Gandhi, my dorm mates, teachers, and I watched another sad movie. I edited it after our movie marathon, and I asked my beloved room mate, Hannah, to read it.

They might have been OOC, and yes, this is a possibility of what would have happened after Sasuke's defection from the village.

Hehehehe. It took me a long time to write this story, so if I did anything wrong, tell me right now by pressing that cute button at the lower left-hand corner of this window, ok?

O O

Help the newbie!!!PLEASE REVIEW!!!!


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